Florida Integrated Science Center.

• Main Authors: Northern Snakehead, Channa Argus
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Burbot
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.352.9981; http://www.pserie.psu.edu/seagrant/publications/factsheets/Snakehead2012reduced.pdf

It’s been nicknamed frankenfish and has starred in two science fiction movies. But what is fact and what is Hollywood fiction? The northern snakehead is a freshwater fish that created a media frenzy when a population was discovered in a Maryland pond. Fishery managers eventually used chemicals to eliminate that population; however, since that time additional snakeheads were discovered in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Species Description The northern snakehead is a cylindrical fish that can grow over 33 inches long. As the name implies, the scaled head of the fish looks like a snake. They have a large mouth with sharp teeth, a truncated, not rounded tail, and are easily identified by dark irregular blotches along their sides. Northern snakeheads look similar to the native burbot and bowfin. The burbot can be distinguished from the northern snakehead by a split dorsal fin, and a single barbel on the lower jaw. The bowfin can be distinguished by a rounded tail, no scales on its head, and an eyespot near the tail in males.